Unlike many blogs out there, we at the Wandering Wordsman do not see it as our role to engage in social commentary. That being said, I will make an observation. I ask you to look for politics, and what do I get? Shirley, the self-proclaimed expert, hunts for something murky. Dragon suspects subterfuge. Theoman is drawn to the unfamiliar, and A Fan concurs. I don’t know what this says about the state of politics in society today, but whatever it is must be difficult to state explicitly.

Now, for a refreshing change of pace, let’s be blunt: you’re all wrong.

A. 外国語 B. 心理学 C. 数学 D. 政治学 E. 文学 F. 歴史学

On several occasions, participants in KYPC have decided that I am trying to trick them, that I, like an infamous teacher at my high school, feel that I am not doing my job unless people fail. Not that I have been keeping close track, but I have the impression that guesses based on this assumption have, so far, invariably been wrong. However, I am pleased that Dragon’s misguided ways led her to guess my particular area of expertise: A, foreign language. A Fan wandered off on a bizarre tangent, meaning that perhaps he should consult with experts in the field that he guessed: B, psychology. Theoman’s possible insider knowledge did not lead him to the correct answer, though it did perhaps prevent him from being lured by his own specialty: C, mathematics. And it seems plain that none of the participants is at all interested in what were called “Textual and Historical Studies” at my university, having completely ignored E, literature, and F, history. Political Science is D.

We at the Wandering Wordsman understand that the journey is more important than the destination, especially in a feature like KYPC, where so often people don’t end up where they expected. So this week, instead of concentrating on where you’re going, let’s focus on how you get there. The topic is modes of transportation. Since I recently wasted away a few more hours of my life on airplanes, I will ask you to pick out a method of cross-country transportation that I much prefer: the shinkansen, or, as it is better known in English, the “bullet train.”

A. 車 B. 自転車 C. 新幹線 D. 地下鉄 E. 電車 F. 飛行機 G. 船

4 Responses

It’s G. The little box on the bottom right is the bullet train, and the little lines above it are obviously speed lines. The thing on the left is the railroad tracks. Of course, the train is supposed to go on top of the tracks, but that would make it really hard to read.

I’ve ridden the bullet train, but at the time I was just grateful that there was enough English signage to keep me on the right track (come on; I have to get some credit for that), so I didn’t notice what the kanji was.

Also, for once I’m actually going to look at the characters before guessing, and I note that the figure in A is also part of B and E. I’m going to guess that A is “train,” and that either B or E is “bullet train.”

Let’s go with B, the more complicated set of characters, mimicking the technological complexity of the mighty shinkansen.

I’m going with E. It shares a character with A and B that must be train. That’s A. B and E are different kinds of trains, but E looks more elegant, as a state of the art passenger train should look. I’ve never seen the Bullet, but that’s the way I think of it. And it looks newer and I like it better. Both E and B look fast, but B looks older, more utilitarian.

I want it clearly understood that I figured this out before I read Fan’s comment.

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